AMIDA (Berakha 01). God, our protector

The ‘amida consists of nineteen blessings, or short prayers which end with a blessing. The first blessing of the Amida is called “Abot”, which literally means “fathers”, in allusion to our ancestors or founding fathers,  Abraham, Yitshaq and Ya’aqob.  This blessing belongs to the first section of the ‘amida: “Praise”. Our first prayer to God, before we ask anything from him,  consists in praising Him for protecting us, the Jewish people.
We affirm that HaShem watched over Abraham, Ytshaq and Ya’aqob. We also describe with three words what we can grasp of God’s protective powers. We say that God is Great, Powerful, and Awe-Inspiring (=Gadol, Gibbor, Nora), there is no power beyond His control (el-‘elion). HaShem uses these powers with kindness (gomel hasadim tobim) to guard us, and ensure our continuity.
We state that because of the merit of our ancestors (zokher hasde abot), God grants us His present protection and our future redemption (umebi go-el).
We also affirm that God promised (lema’an shemo) our ancestors that He will never allow the Jewish people to disappear. He will never abandon us because He loves us (beahaba). See Deut 7:7.
God protected us even before we became a nation. When we were just the family of Abraham or an incipient tribe. Then, we were extremely vulnerable.  In this berakha we are not asking God for protection. We are also not declaring that God will protect every Jew just by virtue of being a Jew. God’s protection of the individual is not the subject of this blessing. We claim that God guaranteed our survival as the People of Israel, and we praise Him for delivering that, for keeping us alive as a nation, against all odds.
Finally we state that God is our King (melekh). HaShem is a special King. He is not a king who demands His subjects to serve him for his own sake, but a King who cares about His subjects: us. A King ready to help (ozer) when we request His assistance. A King who rescues when we are in trouble (moshia’). A King who shields us (magen) from perils, dangers and hazards, which we are not even aware of.
We finalize this prayer by blessing (=acknowledging) God for enabling the survival of the Jewish people, since the times of Abraham Abinu (magen Abraham).


AMIDA: God, open my lips….

 

ה’ שפתי תפתח ופי יגיד תהִלתך
Before we begin the ‘amida, we recite a very special verse from the book of Psalms, (51:15) “God, open my lips, so my mouth would proclaim Your praise”.  To understand why the Rabbis chose this verse to introduce the ‘amida, it is critical to see this verse within its original context.  Psalm 51 is a Psalm of Teshuba (=repentance, contrition). David regretted the sin he committed with Bat-Sheba. When composing this Psalm, David was in a state of deep anguish, consumed by guilt and shame. As he was imploring to God with a broken heart, at one point he felt speechless and powerless. The reader can see that suddenly, the flowing of this Psalm stops. As if David, aware of God’s Presence,  became short of words to beseech God’s mercy.  He paused. Then, he said, God, as I wish to continue praying to You, I realize that I need Your help to address You, please, give me the strength and courage to address You, “God, Open my lips, so my mouth would proclaim Your praise”.  With this extraordinary request David haMelekh conveyed the depth of his contrition and his unique humbleness.  But above all, he taught us that even the most gifted and eloquent biblical poet, when realizing that he is talking directly to God, he requires God’s assistance. 
 
The ‘amida is not a regular prayer. While in all other prayers we talk about God, in the Amida we are talking to God.  Talking about God, praising Him, recounting His blessings as we do, for example, when we read the Psalms in the first sections of our prayers, is somehow within our abilities. Talking directly to God, however, when seriously taken, might/should be an overwhelming experience. When we recite the ‘amida we are not repeating the words of David haMelekh. When saying the ‘amida, in a sense,  we are David haMelekh. Upon realizing what we are about to do, we are overcome by reverential-fear and a sense of inadequacy and powerlessness to experience His Presence; let alone to address Him with words.  
 

This verse was chosen by our Rabbis for the introduction of the ‘amida. To inspire us to feeling the humbling and overwhelming experience of addressing directly God Almighty.  

 



Rabbi Ya’aqob Berab (1474-1546) and the renewal of Rabbinic ordination

 Rabbi Ya’aqob Berab was born in the town of Maqueda, near Toledo, Spain, in 1474.  His teacher was the celebrated rabbi Isaac Abohab, Gaon of Castilla. After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 he fled to Fes, Morocco, where he was chosen the rabbi of the city being just eighteen years old.  From Morocco he went to Algeria, Jerusalem, Egypt, Damascus until he finally established himself in Safed (Tsefat), Israel. 
In Tsefat Rabbi Berab conceived the idea of hiddush hasemikha, the renewal of the rabbinic ordination.  For more than a thousand years, since the times of the Mishna, the Rabbinic ordination which was transmitted from Rabbi to student since the times of Moshe and Yehoshua’ was lost. As rabbi Yosef Caro, one of Rabbi Berab students and contemporaries wrote in the introduction to the Shulhan ‘arukh, because of the large and long Jewish Diaspora, the Jews had too many Halakhic traditions and customs. And since the times of the Sanhedrin, Jews have not had a centralized authority accepted by all Jews which could formulate a uniform Law for all Jews. Now, once a relatively large Jewish community was established in Israel, the renewal to the rabbinic ordination was a real a possibility.  Following Maimonides (Pirush haMishnayot, Sanhedrin 1:1 שאם יסכימו כל החכמים שבארץ ישראל למנות דיינים ולסמוך אותם, הרי אלו סמוכים ויש להם רשות לדון דיני קנסות ולסמוך חכמים אחרים) “If all rabbis in Israel appoint and ordain one rabbi, that assigned rabbi can rule for all of them and, furthermore, he could ordain other rabbis”.  In 1538, twenty-five rabbis assembled in Tsefat and ordained rabbi Ya’aqob Berab, giving him the right to ordain any other Rabbis who would then form a new Sanhedrin.  Rabbi Berab then ordained among others rabbi Yosef Caro (1480-1575), and rabbi Moshe Miterani   (1500-1580). 
Rabbi Levi Ibn Habib (רלב”ח), the chief rabbi of Yerushalayim, was opposed to the renewal of the ordination and had many disputes with rabbi Berab. More opposition to the renewal of the Rabbinical ordination came from the Ottoman empire. The Turkish authorities perceived that the renewal of the ordination would open the possibility for a new Sanhedrin, virtually a Jewish independent Congress, which might ultimately lead to a sovereign Jewish State.  Fearing for his life, rabbi Berab fled to Egypt and in 1546 he ultimately returned to Tsefat where he died at the age of 72 years.
The “Renewal of the semikha”  project established by rabbi Ya’aqob Berab was discontinued after his death.  Still, a few more rabbis were ordained by Rabbi Ya’aqob Berab before he died.  Althought there are some debates about it, it seems that the following rabbis were also ordained by him:   Rabbi Israel Curiel (1501-1573) and Rabbi Abraham Shalom (d.1557) both served in the Bet Din, Rabbinical court,  of Maran Yosef Caro in Tzefat. Rabbi Moshe Cordobero (1522-1570) Rabbi Yosef Sagis ( d. 1573).  Rabbi Yosef Caro ordained Rabbi Moshe Alshekh (1508-1593, Safed). Rabbi Moshe Alshekh then ordained Rabbi Hayim Vital(1543-1620). We know  of a few other musmakhim. For example: The grandson of rabbi Ya’aqob Berab, Rabbi Ya’aqob Aboulafia, from Damascus; his student Rabbi Yoshiahu Pinto (1565-1648), also from Damascus, and his grandson, rabbi Hayim Abulafia (1660-1744). Although these rabbis were musmakhim, they never exert, or claimed to have, a superior authority over other rabbis.   


AMIDA: The basic 3.6.6.1.3 structure

The ‘amida is the most important prayer. It was composed by anshe keneset hagedola, the Men of the Great Assembly during the Fifth century BCE. The words of ‘amida are extremely significant, second in their importance only to the words of the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible). The text of the ‘amida was also formulated in a very precise and sophisticated structure, as follows.
The ‘amida contains 19 berakhot, or blessings, each blessing is dedicated to one theme. The 19 blessings are divided in 3 sections. 
(3) The first section, “Praise”, contains 3 berakhot. In this section we are not asking, nor soliciting anything from God. We begin this prayer by praising Him, declaring that we are aware that He protects us, as He shielded our ancestors. We also acknowledge that our physical survival is entirely dependent on His benevolence (hesed, rahamim). 
(6.6.1) The second section, “Requests” contains 13 blessings. In these blessings we ask God to fulfill our needs. The first 6 blessings of this section we focus on our basic personal needs. We ask God to give us wisdom, health, a decent livelihood, etc.   The next 6 berakhot focus on our national aspirations. We ask God to bring to fruition, soon in our days, redemption (=coming back to Erets Israel), having the right political leaders, re-building Yerushalayim, etc. The last berakha of this section, shome’a tefila, contains a general and comprehensive request. We ask God to listen to all our previous pleads. At the same time, because this berakha does not focus on any specific theme, it allows us to beseech God for any particular requests that might not have been covered in the previous berakhot (for example: finding the right wife/husband, having children, etc.).
(3) The Third section, “Gratitude”, contains 3 blessings:  The middle blessing of this section, Modim, is a prayer of gratitude to HaShem. In the blessing that precedes Modim, we ask God to restore the conditions which will allow us to worship Him once again in His Temple with prayers and sacrifices. Finally, in the 19th and last berakha, we ask HaShem to bless Israel with peace. We end the ‘amida asking for peace, “shalom” because peace is the Jewish people’s highest aspiration, personally and nationally, and the most encompassing of all of God’s blessings.


AMIDA: The after effects of the ‘Amida

Last week we explained that prayer, particularly the ‘amida, requires kavana, the proper state of mind. When praying the ‘amida we don’t allow mundane thoughts to enter our mind. We pay attention to every word we pronounce, focusing our mind exclusively on God. 

A good way to detect if my ‘amida has been said with kavana, is to observe our state of mind after the ‘amida. 

If we have taken seriously the notion that when praying the ‘amida we are literally standing in front of God’s Presence, that experience must have left a very noticeable impact in my thoughts, feelings and values. When we pray the ‘amida with kavana we place God back in the center of this world’s reality. We become more humble. We understand that if we want our lives to be meaningful and we wish to leave the periphery of life, we should get closer to Him. 

After the ‘amida, we should also realize that as much as we push for things to happen, we try to adjust the world to our plans it is HaShem who is ultimately in charge.  No matter how strong, rich, and in good-shape we are, our powers and wishes are limited (or enhanced) by the “G” factor”. After the ‘amida, Emuna/faith, usually understood as “hope”, acquires a new deeper meaning:  “acceptance”.

After praying the ‘amida with Kavana, we reach a deeper state of humbleness.   Conducive to getting closer to God and to a higher level of internal peace. 

However, if after the ‘amida we have not become less self-centered and more God-centered, most probably we have not prayed the ‘amida with the proper Kavana. 

Then, it will be time to review the state of our prayers.   



TEFILA: The basics of the ‘amida

The ‘amida or Shemona-Esre –also called by our Rabbis “Tefila”– is the most important prayer. It is said every day, three times a day, morning, afternoon, and evening. When we pray the ‘amida we are talking directly to God. There is nothing more significant for a human being that communicating with his or her Creator.
FOCUS: We should not start praying the ‘amida unprepared or unfocused. The ‘amida requires ‘kobed rosh’, a serious effort of concentration. In preparation for the ‘amida we must visualize and internalize that we are standing in front of the King of Kings. Literally, ‘amida means: “The prayer which is said while standing”. In the Jewish protocol a servant stands in front of his King, with his feet together and keeping his head a little down as a sign of humility and submission to the will of the Monarch.
POSTURE: Strictly speaking, the posture we adopt in the ‘amida conveys: “I’m standing at Your service, waiting for Your command”. For this reason, many would recite the ‘amida with their hands together, on the chest, the right hand holding the left closed fist.
ARTICULATION: The ‘amida should be said articulating the words. Articulation -among other things- facilitates a better concentration (=kavana). We should say the ‘amida whispering it to ourselves (lahash). So low no one else could hear our voice, and loud enough we could hear our own whispering.
KAVANA: When saying the ‘amida, we should think and then delve into the meaning of every word. This mental exercise is called Kavana: consciousness / alertness. Distractions or even having a blank mind is not accepted. If we get distracted during the ‘amida, particularly while saying the first berakha, Magen Abraham, we should say the ‘amida again, provided we are sure that this time we will be able to concentrate properly.

 



Maimonides, ‘aboda zara, 11:11: The healing powers of words.

Last week we explained the idea of the hober, a wizard or enchanter who uses spells to invoke supernatural effects (seethis). By “spells” we mean words without any meaning or content, that presumably have a magic effect. 
Although Maimonides empathically rejects the use of magic spells, there is one instance in which something similar to a spell is allowed. The Talmud calls it: “lohesh ‘al hamaka” which means “whispering words to a wound”.  If somebody was bitten by a serpent or a scorpion Maimonides allows that someone else would whisper some words into the wound. Why would Maimonides allow this seemingly magical practice, so similar to spells? 
Maimonides explicitly recognizes that those words don’t have any magical power (and, by the way, for this practice to be permitted, the one who whispers must also believe that there is no magic in these words).  Maimonides understands that “whispering to the wound” has a psychological effect on the patient,  helping him or her to calm down and regain composure. This is critically important in the cases brought by Maimonides, when someone is bitten by a snake or a scorpion. In these cases the victim/patient is in a state of panic, believing that the poison will soon cause her death. In a state of panic his blood circulation will accelerate, and the poison would act faster. However, if at that time someone whispers some soft words, those word will have the effect of calming down the patient, until help or perhaps an antidote arrives.    
To better understand Maimonides idea let us see what the Psychotherapist Dr. Judith Acosta, an expert in neurobiology and the author of the book “Verbal first aid”, explains. Dr Acosta trains first responders in scenarios of car accidents, fires, acts of terror or natural disasters. She argues that the first words said to the severely wounded victims are crucial. Words can calm the patient and prolong or even save his life “With our words we can address autonomic function in ways that can help them [the patients] be calm, stop or slow bleeding, reduce an inflammatory response, lower their blood pressure or soothe a broken heart.” 
A last point.  Althought Maimonides authorizes “lilhosh ‘al hamaka” he strongly opposes and severely condemns whispering onto the wound words of Tora. Why?  We will see B’H next week. 
Dedicated to the memory of Dr Albert Moghrabi, Abraham ben Aida, z”l. 






SHABBAT: Removing snow on Shabbat

In most Israeli cities snow is not very common.  This year, however, there were large amounts of snow, especially in Yerushalayim, and many rabbis referred to the question of removing snow on Shabbat from our front doors, doorways or any other paths that need to be used on Shabbat.  This HOTD will review three of the main concerns discussed as possible reasons as to why one can/can’t handle snow on Shabbat. 
1. The first concern is muqse. Muqse, defines those elements which we cannot handle on Shabbat, even when we are not doing any forbidden action with them (examples: money, a cellphone, a Tefilin, etc.).    And why we could suppose that snow would be muqse on Shabbat? Because one of the categories of muqse includes nolad, (=a newborn thing). Something that was not there before Shabbat becomes automatically muqse on Shabbat. For example, if a chicken would lay an egg on Shabbat, that egg cannot be handled (tiltul) on Shabbat because it is muqse.  When it snows on Shabbat, it seems that the same principle should apply: we should not remove snow because it is considered nolad/muqse…   However, according to the Shulhan Arukh (328:8, 320:10-11 or Bet Yosef at the end of 310)  rain, hail or by the same principle snow, which falls on Shabbat, is not muqse. Because it is considered a natural extension of expected freshwater. So, from the point of view of muqse, it will be no problematic to handle snow. Additionally, and at least for those who would follow the ruling of the Rama (308:6), even if one would considered snow muqse (like Iggerot Moshe  23:36) it will be permitted to remove snow because for Rama it is permitted to remove a muqse that can become a potential hazard for the public.
 
2. The next point is that according to some rabbis (leb abraham) clearing snow would be considered an strenuous physical effort which should be prevented on Shabbat. This argument can also be rejected because not every strenuous physical effort is forbidden on Shabbat. For example in case of need we could move a big table from one side of the room to the other side, etc.  
3. The last concern is that removing snow might lead to carrying outside (hotsa-a, ha’abara) in an area with no ‘erub.  This is probably the most serious concern because it potentially involves a Biblical (mideOrayta) transgression.  In any case, when there is no ‘erub, snow still could be removed from our doorways, etc., provided we would not be carrying the snow or the shovel for more than 6 feet (4 amot). 
NOTE: In our particular case (NYC) today, since it snowed on Friday, we obviously should not leave the removing of the snow deliberately for Shabbat.


Rabbi Ya’aqob Sasportas (1610-1698)

Rabbi Ya’aqob Sasportas was born in Oran, Algeria, in 1610. A prodigious child, at the age of eighteen he was elected as the Dayan  of the city Tlemcen, also in Algeria.  Later, he also served the communities of Fez and Sali in Morocco. In 1664 he was offered to be the rabbi of the newly established Portuguese community of London. According to the famous hebraist and poet David Franco Mendes, Rabbi Sasportas had accompanied Rabbi Menashe ben Israel to London in 1655 when the latter requested (and obtained) from Oliver Cromwell the permission for the Jews to reestablish themselves in England (In 1290, King Edward I issued an edict expelling all Jews from England. The expulsion edict remained in force until 1655). Rabbi Sasportas served as a rabbi in the Sephardic communities of Hamburg and Amsterdam, where he officiated also as the head of the Yeshiba Keter Tora and later on  of the famous Yeshiba ‘Ets Hayim.
Between 1665 and 1666 many (probably most) Jews believed that Shabbetai Zebi was the Messiah Jews were waiting for since the times of the destruction of the Bet haMiqdash. Althought it might be difficult for us today to believe, many Rabbis –Ashkenazim and especially Sephardim–naively supported Shabbetai Zebi’s claims. The Sabbetaian movement, needless to say, caused tremendous damage, financial, political and physical to the Jews and it resulted in a great Hilul haShem.  Some religious leaders were a little more cautious. The champion of the fight against the self proclaimed false Messiah was Rabbi Ya’akoq Sasportas (and Rabbi Moshe Hagez). Rabbi Sasportas denounced with very harsh words the falseness of Shabbetai Zebi. Especially by means of letters addressed to the Jews in Europe, North Africa and Middle East. In those letters he unmasked the impostor Mashiah and his entourage and warned the people against joining, supporting or believing in his claims.    Rabbi Sasportas died in Amsterdam in 1698.
Portrait of rabbi Ya’aqob Sasportas, by  Isaac Luttichuys
                       
 
 
 
 
 
 
Some of  his books are
  • Toledot Ya’aqob (Amsterdam, 1652), an index of Biblical passages found in the Talmud Yerushalmi. Similar to Aaron Pesaro’s “Toledot Aharon,” which indexes the pesuqim of the Babylonian Talmud.
  • Ohel Ya’aoob (1737), a book of rabbinical responsa, edited and prefaced by his son Abraham Sasportas;
  • Tsitsat nobel Tsebi (published 1737), a four volumes book denouncing the heretic ideas and practices of  Shabbetai Tsebi and his followers. 
We present  here the book : Kitsur Tsitsat Nobel Tsebi, a summary of the original book, composed by Rabbi Rafael Meldola (see this) published in Odessa, 1867. 



 

 



Modern Rabbis on celebrating New Year’s eve

We have written in previous HOTD about the views of modern orthodox rabbis regarding the celebration of different American holidays. We have seen that all rabbis are very strict in forbidding, for example, the celebration of Halloween; while most would not oppose (and some would even encourage) the celebration of Thanksgiving. The difference between Thanksgiving and Halloween is that the latter has a clear origin in pagan culture and that some of those idolatrous customs are somehow still practiced in its celebration today (see this). 
What about New Year’s eve?
According to Christian tradition, January 1st, is the day of the circumcision of Yeshu (the eighth day counting from December 25), when his name was given to him.  Five centuries ago, the rabbi Terumat Hadeshen and the Rama, both living in Christian countries, classified New Year’s day as a religious gentile holiday (Darkhe Moshe and Rama, Yoreh Deah 148:12). Terumat Hadeshen refers to January First as “the eighth day of Christmas.” He clearly viewed this holiday as ‘religious’ in nature.  For the Jews living in Christian lands Christmas and new Year were not very happy days.  One example:  on New Year’s Day 1577, Pope Gregory XIII decreed that all Roman Jews, under pain of death, must listen attentively to the compulsory Catholic conversion sermon given in Roman synagogues after Friday night services.  On New Year’s Day 1578, Gregory signed into law a tax forcing Jews to pay for the support of a “House of Conversion” to convert Jews to Christianity.  On New Year’s 1581, Gregory ordered his troops to confiscate all sacred literature from the Roman Jewish community. Thousands of Jews were murdered in the campaign (U.S. News and World Report December 23, 1996).
Despite all this, many modern American Rabbis have a more lenient view in regards to New Year’s day. In their opinion New Year’s today has lost entirely its religious overtones and can be rationally explained as a celebration of a new civil calendar’s year, which we all somehow follow, for example, for taxes purposes. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (Iggerot Moshe, Eben Ha’ezer 2:13) writes with regard to New Year’s: “On the question of celebrating any event on a holiday of Gentiles, if the holiday is based on religious beliefs [such as Christmas], such celebrations are prohibited …. even without [a religious intent] . . .  However, the first day of the civil year [January 1] and the day of Thanksgiving are not bound to this prohibition according to the letter of the law. Pious Jews [ba’ale nefesh], however, should be stricter [and avoid its celebration].”   Following Rabbi Feinstein, other rabbis assert that, since the status of New Year’s day has changed in the last three hundred years and in contemporary America there is no religious content on New Year’s Day, and while there might be many problems associated with the way New Year’s is celebrated (drinking, etc.) few would classify it as a religious holiday, since there is a clear secular reason to celebrate the beginning of the new calendar year. 
Most Rabbis I know will not promote and would actually oppose to any public or official commemoration of the New Year’s eve by their congregation.  At the same time, based on some of the above mentioned considerations, they won’t actively preach against its private and sober celebration by individuals, as they would do, for example, with celebrating Halloween.
READ two different opinions on celebrating New Year’s eve. 
Rabbi M. Broyde 
Rabbi Y. Hoffman 


READ
“Better a boycott than a rocket fire” 
Blasting ‘Western ignorance’ on region and questioning Palestinians’ desire for peace, Moshe Ya’alon lays out hard-line stance
By Stuart Winer, form the “Times of Israel”